Power wrench



A. ELFE POWER WRENCH Filed March 16. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented May 20, 1 924.

UNITED rare 7 v ]1,4e4,sa1 PATENT omen AUGUST ELFE, or BREEEiWISCONSIN. I i

rowan wannorr.

' Application filed March 16,

Y and has for its object to provide a device of this character comprising a frame'having a driven shaft therein, driven through a flex ible connection by any suitable source of power, and provided with a clutch element,

, which clutch element cooperates'with a slidable clutch element carried by an axially aligned shaft, and by means of which clutch element the axially aligned shaft may be driven as desired. The axially aligned shaft is provided with a drive gear, which drive gear cooperates with gears carried by a counter shaft and a gear carried by a socket wrench drive shaft in such amanner whereby the socket wrench shaft may be rotated in either direction, thereby allowing a nut to be unscrewed o-r screwed onto a bolt.

A further object is to provide hand grip members for controlling the clutch and spring means for forcing the hand grip members apart when released.

A further object is to provide means whereby the slidable drive gear may be shifted for driving the wrench shaft in either direction.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the wrench.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 44 of Figure 1.

Fi 'ure 5 is a detail perspective view showing t e gear shifting member. I 7

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 1923-, Scrial'No. 625,505. 7

designates a driven shaft, which shaft is driven by a flexible shaft 2 which r'naylead-v Theidriven to any suitable'source of power. sha ft 2 is provided with a clutcheleme'nt 3, which is rotatably mounted in a bearing of the plate4.- Extending through theplate4 are bolts 5, the lower ends of which bolts are threaded into aplate 6, and the plate 6- 'is held rigidly by said boltsfi However tofurther brace the plates in relation to each othera casing 7'is provided, which casing is substantially U-shaped in horizontal cross section and terminates-in rolls 8, through which the bolts5 at one side of the device extend; Rotatably mountedin a bearing 9 ofthe plate 6 and a bearing 10 of the plate 11 is a shaft 12, which shaft is in axial alignment with the driven shaft 1 and has slidably keyed thereon a clutchelement 13, which clutchele'ment, when moved upwardly V 1nto cooperativeengagement with the clutch element 13, causes the shaft 12 to rotate with the shaft 1- inthe direction of the arrow 0...

The'clutch element 13' is provided with a collar 14. with which the clutch elementwill rotate and the collar is 'pivotally mounted at 15 in the opening 16 of the hand, grip lever 17. Lever 17' has one of its'ends pivotally connected at 18 to one of the bolts 5, and its handle end 19 extending outwardly beyond one side ofthe plate 6. The

handle member 17 is limited 'inits'downward movement. by engagement with the plate 6, and whenrele'ased'by the operator, is forced downwardly by the expansive spring 20. which spring is interposed between the handle 17 and the handle 21, therefore it will be seen that immediately upon release of the. handles by the operator the clutch element 13 is moved out of cooperative engagement with the clutch element 3, and consequently the rotation of the shaft 12 is stopped. The plate 11 is secured to the plate 6 by means of bolts 22, and interposed between the plates 6 and 11 is a cylindrical casing 23, which not only braces the plates in relation to each other but also 2a is in an inoperative position, consequently the wvrench shaft 25 does not move during the rotation of the shaft 12, even if the clutch elements are in engagement with each other. When it is desired to drive the wrench shaft 25 in the direction of the arrow 6 for screwing a nut on a bolt, the drive gear 24 is moved upwardly until it meshes with the gear 26 carried by a countershaft 27, at which time the countershaft 2-7 will rotate in the direction'of the arrow 0, and the gear 28 carried by thewrench shaft 25 will be rotated in the direction ofthe arrow 6 by means of the gear 29 carried bythe countershaft. It will be noted that the above operation takes place while threading a nut onto a 'bolt with the socket wrench 30 in engagement with the nut. When it is desired to unscrew the nut the drive gear 24 is moved downwardly until it meshes directly with the gear 28 and consequently the wrench shaft 25 will be rotated to the left, and in a reverse direction to the one set forth above, therefore a nut maybe easily and quickly unscrewed from a bolt. It is to'be understood however that, although the device has been described for unscrewing nuts from bolts, the device may be used for screwing and removing'bolts from various articles if so desired; The gear 2 1 is shifted by the gear shifting device 31, which is slidably mounted in a vertical slot 32 of the casing 23, and the gear 24 extends and rotates between the guide; fingers 33 of the gear shifting device. The gear shifting device extends outwardly through the slot 32 and is provided with guide lugs 34' and 35. The lugs 34; engage the inner side of the casing 23 and the lugs 35 engage the outer side of said casing, therefore it will be seenthat the device may be shifted and guided vertically, and the drive gear 241- will be moved therewith. The lugs 35 extend downwardly and form means for engaging the plate 11 and limiting the downward movement of the gear 24 after the gear has been moved into mesh with the gear 28. hen the gear 24 is moved upwardly into mesh with the gear 26, the shifting device is moved slightly in a lateral plane until the lug 36 is received in the notch 37 in the side wall of the slot 32 and notches 38 and 39 are provided for holding the gear shifting device to inoperative position as shown in Figure 1 or in its lowerposition.

From the above it will be seenthat a power wrench is provided, which wrench is simple in construction, positive in its operation and may be rotated in either directionthereby allowing a nut to be threaded onto a bolt or to bethreaded therefrom, and the device is simple in construction and consequently the wrench will be light allowing the same. to be 7 easily handled.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed as new and useful is A power wrench, said wrench comprising a frame, said frame being-formed fromm spaced plates, bolts extending through said plates, a U-shaped casing interposed, between the plates, the ends of said casing having rolls through which the bolts pass, a driven shaft rotatably mounted in the frame, said driven shaft being provided with a clutch, a lever pivotally connected to one of the bolts and controlling the clutch and having its free end extending outwardlybetween the rolls of the casing, a handle member carried by the frame and a spring inter-- posed between the lever and the handle member.

In testimony whereof I. have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

AUGUST ELFE.

Vitnesses W. J. THIELKE, WVM. A. BASOM, 

